The “sorry” debate has come and gone, culminating in Kevin Rudd’s apology from Parliament to indigenous Australians for the “stolen generation”.
In reporting reaction to national events, I’ve taken no pride as an Australian in the whole saga. The text of the apology was well crafted and touched a chord.
I’m afraid though the issue is more divisive than it is unifying.
That was the case previously and it remains so today.
The call by some Aboriginal leaders for compensation won’t assist the healing process, which many claimed would flow from today’s contrition.
Brendan Nelson highlighted some legitimate issues in his response and he had a right to raise them. Time to move on, I think.
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The entire issue has me confused.
Twitter: mgorey
says:
I’m confused too Sue. I’m proud of our history and I don’t think we should apologise for it. Sure, mistakes were made, but we learn from them and move on. That’s my view.
Native Americans are your indigenous people. Should today’s Congress apologise for how they were treated in the past? That’s the essence of the debate.